Government monitors sex scenes on television

The Government could this week order television chiefs to include more
references to condoms and sexually transmitted diseases in their story
lines.

Gillian Merron, the Public Health Minister, said it is important that young people watch realistic and responsible portrayals of contraception.

By Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor

9:00PM GMT 20 Feb 2010

Officials will reveal that they have analysed popular TV shows and concluded that not enough sex scenes feature the characters discussing contraception.

They will say that "careful" analysis of 350 episodes of soap operas and comedies show that only seven per cent of sex scenes include a discussion between the characters about safe sex.

A report, called Mis-selling Sex, to be launched by the Department of Health, will call on television writers to include more dialogue about condoms and plot lines featuring the consequences of unsafe sex such as unwanted pregnancies and disease.

It will also call for more slang words to be used in order to connect with teenagers.

The move comes after David Cameron hit out at the pop singer Lily Allen last week for her sexually explicit lyrics, which he said were unsuitable for children.

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Gillian Merron, the Public Health Minister, said: "Young people relate to the programmes they watch on TV, so it's important that they see both realistic and responsible portrayals of sex and contraception.

"It's not for Government to say what happens on TV, but we can have conversations with broadcasters to help them have a more positive impact on attitudes to sex.

"I'm encouraged that some broadcasters are working to address these issues, and hope others will follow suit."

Her report analysed programmes popular with 16-24 year olds including EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Holby City, Home & Away and Neighbours.

"American favourites such as CSI, My Name is Earl, Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Desperate Housewives were also studied.

Researchers found that only seven per cent of sexual content featured discussion of safe sex. Of the 102 encounters of actual sex, only three couples used condoms.

Just 13 per cent of sexual encounters where contraception was not featured dealt with any kind of consequence, such as pregnancy or contracting a sexually transmitted disease.

Of the 99 instances of unsafe sex, just nine characters regretted their behaviour, the report said. It contrasted that with polling that suggests 41 per cent of people who have had unprotected sex worried about the consequences.

The report claims that more than a third (37 per cent) of young people turn to television for guidance on sex and relationships and almost half of young adults say they would feel more confident about using condoms if they were discussed more openly in the media.

Large numbers of young people find themselves too embarrassed to have open and honest conversations about sex and one in four wish they could talk more openly about it, it says.

The report was commissioned as part of the Government's "Sex. Worth Talking About" campaign which has also seen a major television advertising campaign calling on teenagers to use contraception.

It sets out a five point plan, calling on the actors who play popular characters to promote issues around unsafe sex by working with charities in real life.

Most controversially, it calls on scriptwriters to "liven" the language used to describe safer sex in order to give credibility to storylines.

It said: "The language used to describe sex and sex-related issues should mimic that used to discuss them in the real world."

Paul Marquess, the series producer of Hollyoaks, said: "It's really important to us and our audience that we're clear in terms of dealing with the issues of safe sex. The programme offers a great platform to promote good sexual health.

"We know that our audience relates to the characters and their situations in the show. With our young demographic, this is particularly important and reminding viewers about the importance of safe sex is something we take very seriously."

Though teenage pregnancy rates are declining and teenage births are at the lowest level for 15 years, rates of unplanned pregnancy remain high and incidences of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as chlamydia are increasing.